Sunday, May 31, 2009

Gods & Demons I: Overview

Divine beings in the Shadowend fall into one of five categories: the Elder Host, the Dalerain, the Envidier, Typhos, and cults. Only members of the first two groups are truly divine: Envidier, Typhos, and cults, while divinely natured, cannot bestow divine power, and instead confer it through occult bargains and pacts.

The Elder Host are the primal gods, the first-born and the creators of the mortal races. They were neither created nor born, instead emerging full-formed from the Nothing around the World.

The Typhos are the result of two divine essences mingling. Most Typhos are the children of the Elder Host, born in the days before mortals were created, or grown common, but a few are the result of Dalerain unions.  They are amoral, selfish monstrosities - a few found service among the Elder Host, but most went their own way, ruled by nothing more than whim, fancy, and rage.

The Dalerain, or the Middle Host, are the offspring of a union between a divine being and a mortal. The oldest Dalerain are the children of the Elder Host, while the younger are usually the result of a Dalerain and a mortal mingling. The Dalerain compose the multitude of divinities which mortals find the most familiarity and comfort in.

Most children of the Dalerain become one of the Envidier, or the Host of Heroes, who serve the Dalerain and the Elder Host, and are the most frequent emissaries of the divine in the mortal realm.

1 comment: